1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a recessed-mounted housing, suitable for mounting electric and electronic devices therein, and more particularly relates to a combination recessed-mounted housing and spring mounting clip apparatus for quickly, securely, and easily mounting and retaining an electronic device housing recess-mounted in a wall or ceiling.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Recessed-mounted electric and electronic device housings are well known in the industry. Such housings (commonly called "canisters") provide a mounting structure for mounting recessed-mounted lights in ceilings, for instance. U.S. Pat. No. 5,068,772 shows such a recessed lighting canister adapted to be inserted and positioned into a drywall or "suspended" ceiling. The canister enclosure includes apparently three spring mechanisms that are slightly bowed outwardly from the canister. As the canister is inserted through the drywall or suspended ceiling, the three slightly bowed springs flatten out against the canister against the force of the ceiling material. Once these three spring members are beyond the back of the ceiling material, they spring back outwardly into their slightly bowed orientations in order to retain the canister behind (above) the ceiling material. These spring members can thereafter be locked in position to retain the canister in place in the ceiling. U.S. Pat. No. 4,733,339 also shows a recessed lighting canister having manually adjustable clips that are connected to the side walls of the canister in a manner similar to that shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,068,772. The retaining clips, however, are intended to be manually bent outwardly, once beyond the back surface of the ceiling material, and manually locked in place, to thereby retain the canister above the ceiling material.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,314,148 shows a recessed-mounted light canister having a plurality of spring clips that are manually insertable into a plurality of sets of slots in the canister side wall, corresponding to various thicknesses of ceiling material, to retain the canister in place. U.S. Pat. No. 4,636,924 shows a recessed lighting canister having manually operable spring clips that are inserted into the canister from a direction opposite that shown in the U.S. Pat. No. 5,314,148 patent. All of these devices require access to the interior of the canister or access to the area behind the ceiling in order to "set" or "lock" the canister in recessed position above the ceiling material.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,673,149 is a similar recessed-mounted canister for mounting a loud speaker therein. This canister is held in position above or behind the ceiling or wall material by three "L" shaped ears that are pushed outwardly behind the ceiling or wall material from within the canister, and then screw-attached to the canister side wall to hold the canister in place. This recess-mounted canister also requires internal access in order to "set" the canister in a ceiling or wall.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,349,510 shows a recessed lighting canister having a lens or light defuser contained within a ring that is clip-mountable into a recess in the opening of the canister. The lens ring is hinged to the canister and is held in place by two spring clips.
U.S. Patent No. 5,410,782 also shows a recessed lighting housing held in place by a plurality of over-center spring and latch mechanisms for holding respective rotatable ears down against the back (upper) surface of the ceiling material to hold the recessed lighting fixture in position. This device requires access to the area behind the ceiling in order to install the housing.
In the area of recessed closed circuit TV (CCTV) surveillance camera mountings, to which the present invention is directed, recessed-mounted canisters (commonly called "back boxes" in the industry), are typically "hard mounted" by screws, bolts, etc. directly to structural elements (beams, joists, etc.) behind or above the ceiling, soffit, etc. into which the CCTV camera is to be mounted. This procedure generally requires pre-drilling hardware mounting holes in the structural elements, in addition to the back box hole in the ceiling material. Frequently, pre-drilling the hardware mounting holes requires access to the area above the ceiling, soffit, etc., which is not always easily accessible.